the deadly gun bellowing treason on April 12th at Charleston, as
the first shell burst over Sumter, the situation remained one of
anxious tension in California. The telegraph is not yet finished.
On April 19th, General Sumner arrived unexpectedly. He was informed of
local matters by the loyalists. General Sidney Johnston, astonished
and surprised, turned over his command at once. Without treasonable
attempt, he left the Golden Gate. When relieved, he was no longer
in the service. Speeding over the Colorado deserts to Texas, the
high-minded veteran rode out to don the new gray uniform, and to
die in the arms of an almost decisive victory at Shiloh.

Well might the South call that royal old soldier to lead its
hosts. Another half hour of Albert Sidney Johnston at Shiloh, and
the history of the United States might have been changed by his
unconquered sword. Lofty in his aims, adored by his subordinates,
he was a modern Marshal Ney. The Southern cypress took its darkest
tinge around his untimely grave. Sidney Johnston had all the sterling
qualities of Lee, and even a rarer magnetism of character.

Honor placed one fadeless wreath upon his tomb. He would not play
the ignoble part of a Twiggs or a Lynde. He offered a stainless
sword to the Bonnie Blue Flag.

The gravity of his farewell, the purity of his private character,
the affection of his personal friends, are tributes to the great
soldier. He nearly crushed the Union army in his tiger-like assault
at Shiloh. By universal consent, the ablest soldier of the "old
army," he was sacrificed to the waywardness of fate. Turns of
Fortune's wheel.